HEY MISTER, WHAT'S IT COST?

October 6, 2007

Bright and early Saturday morning, Winn, Daria, and Judy struck off for a day i Carcassonnne, another walled city. On the drive over the mountain we made a few stops for Daria to see the vineyards and the beautiful vistas. It was the first somewhat sunny day we had seen in days and knew we should take advantage.

We arrive in Carcassonne in good time and were fortunate to locate a parking place in the lot just off the main entrance to the "old City". Carcassonne is said to be the Middle Ages come to life. The castle was built as a barrier to invaders from the Pyreenes and as the border stronghold between France and Spain. The action started as early as 506 AD. From 1084 to 1209, Carcassonne enjoyed a glorious period of wealth and culture under the Trencavets. Under them, the Cathedral and Chateau comtal were begun. Simon de Montfort made Carcassonne one of the first steps in the Crusade of 1209. The las Viscount Raymond - Roger Trentavel was no Cathar, but a gentleman and a patriot determined to oppose the planned rape of the Languedoc by the northerners. His famous decelartion is remembered today, "I offer a town, a roof, a shelter, bread and my sword to all the persecuted people who will soon be wandering in Provence."

Shortly, Trencavel allowed himself to be coerced outside the Cite walls,was put in chains, and the leaderless city soon surrendered. He died in prison some three months later, probably poisoned by Monfort.

After a good bit of touring and a lot of picture taking, we found a nice quiet place for a light lunch os salad and pizza split three ways. We views an open area called Les Lices where knights trained in their many skills and at special times tournaments are held as entertainment for the public. The outer wall was built during the time of Louis IX. It ia completely open on the inside so that attackers had no protection from the defender on the inner was.

Atop both wall, almost everything you see today, the crenellations, wooden galleries and painted turrets that make up the city skyline if the work of Viollet -le- Duc. This pioneer of architectural restoration has been faulted for not adherring to original appearances. This particular historical note is for a certain special architect I know. See, Aaron, I am looking out for things that will be of interest to you as well as MA. I just hope you get to enjoy it one day as I have this trip.

Exiting the walled city we came upon another bit of magic: CARROUSEL de LA CITE. Remember the beautiful carrousels in the fairytales we read as children and if we were lucky could ride on at the circus. This one was a beautiful piece of art. We three women beyond the age of reason stood and watch as the young children laughed and shouted to each other in those happy young voices that are too seldom herad today.

We three looked at each other and said, "Why not?'Walking up to the ticket booth we asked, "Hey, Mister, how much does it cost for a ride? He gave us a rather quizzical look because we certainly had no children with us and apparently he was not asked such a question by old ladies. Our 1 Euro ride gave us one of our most enjoyable memories. So up we go to the upper level mind you and each select our horse for the ride. Round and round we go laughing and giggling like we were 8 - 10 years old like the children riding with the old ladies. The children on the lower level kept looking up at us, laughing and giggling and pointing us out to their parents and others waing for them to finish their ride. The fun javascript:void(0)of it all. To the amazement of some of you reading this piece, we were each able to mount and dismount our rides with no assistance.

When our ride was was completed, we got off the carrousel, but noted that their were quite a number of women beyond the age of wisdon getting on for their rides. To our credit, some of the had to be pushed, pulled lifted on and off the rides and some opted for riding the bench seat, but thier smiles were broad, their eyes sparkled and they realized how much fun it can be to be a kid again, even if it's only long enough for a carrousel ride.


Judy